National Life Group’s Charitable Foundation helps build healthy and vital communities.
Our grants vary in size with roughly 80% under $5000; we are seldom able to fund an entire program.
Our expectations are high, however. We look for proposals from organizations with:
- A well-planned approach to underlying issues or needs
- A base of support
- A committed and skilled leadership
We try to be a catalyst, providing funds to help organizations explore or undertake new work or do more effectively what they are already doing. Thus, we emphasize one-time grants rather than continuing support.
What we fund:
We look for projects that address a clearly defined community need. We will consider proposals in any category, although we favor those that focus
on children and families, health and human services and the arts.
Since most of our employees and retirees and their families live in Central Vermont, an area with a sparse population and a thin base of charitable
capital, National Life commits a substantial percentage of its charitable giving to Washington County.
What we don’t fund:
We do not generally make grants for endowments, operating expenses (with the exception of a one-time initial planning expense), higher educational
institutions (with the exception of the employee matching program), religious purposes, labor and fraternal groups, debt reduction or work that has already been completed. Additionally, we do not make grants to individuals, daycare facilities and school trips. Finally, we do not make
grants to organizations that discriminate in any way on the basis of race, religion, gender, age, national
origin, disability or sexual orientation.
